Reservoir investigations on the Hot Dry Rock geothermal system, Fenton Hill, New Mexico: Tracer test results

A closed-loop circulation test was conducted from 10 May to 14 July 1995 on the Hot Dry Rock (HDR) reservoir at Fenton Hill, New Mexico after a hiatus of nearly two years. Changes in heat transfer and reservoir volume were investigated and compared to previous circulation tests. Chemical tracers can be used to measure the volume of flow paths in hydrologic systems. Usually, tracers are used in low temperature situations, but the application to high temperature systems has been established for certain tracer compounds. During the 1995 flow testing at Fenton Hill, both a conservative and a non conservative tracer were injected into the reservoir in each of two separate experiments. The purpose was to determine the volume of the most direct flow paths and to estimate the total volume of fractures in the system. The results indicate a relatively static reservoir volume between June and July, yet with an increase in flow dispersion. It can be assumed that channeling of flow did not occur in the main body of the reservoir due to continuous operation. However, a new flow path adjacent to the injection well did develop, and its affect on reservoir flow was investigated using tracer technology. The tracer data collected during that period shows that there is a minor contribution of flow from a previously under-developed region of the HDR reservoir